1st Fridays Art Walk

All Things Local Showcases The Bounty of Fall

BY NINA BENJAMIN

Kathy Hohl, of Kathy's Pumpkin Patch, in Donnellson, Iowa, grows a huge variety of gourds and pumpkins. She'll bring pumpkins for pumpkin painting at the All Things Local 1st Fridays Art Walk in Fairfield on Sept. 7, 2007.

There’s a lovely stillness that creeps in every year, after the sticky canopy of summer has been peeled away, before even a whisper of winter can be felt in the air. This brief respite from Iowa’s wickedly fickle weather, marked by the cartwheeling of rusty leaves down the sidewalks and the spicy aroma of cider, is September. And the “teeming Autumn big with rich increase,” as Shakespeare put it, could be no better commemorated than with an art walk dedicated to its fruits. On Friday, September 7, 2007, Fairfield’s Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign will be hosting the “All Things Local” 1st Fridays Art Walk on the square to celebrate local farmers and food, in the hopes of inspiring people to support their neighborhood growers and markets. Visitors will enjoy a host of locally grown goods, from organic cheese and freshly pressed apple cider to homemade pies and Fairfield's Radiance Dairy ice cream.

“Our hope is that through the enjoyment of the wonderful flavors of local food, folks will search out, request, and purchase locally grown food whenever it is available,” says coordinator Mary Carter, who, along with Susan Thicke and Detra Dettman, has been excitedly planning the event for about a year.

Buying food from local farmers, either at farmers markets or local grocery stores, provides many benefits. First, it enables the farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer, according to Sustainable Table, a website devoted to educating the public about healthy food choices. In contrast, the farmer only gets 3.5 cents of every dollar spent on average grocery store food—most of the profits go to the middlemen. By supporting local farmers and markets, you are in turn supporting the local economy.

“The consumer rules!” Mary Carter explains. “They get more of what they spend their dollars on. If they purchase apples from South America instead of Iowa, that’s what the grocery store will purchase more of.”

Buying locally also helps protect the environment. Sustainable Table states that the average grocery store’s produce travels nearly 1,500 miles from farm to fridge. Think of the vast amount of carbon dioxide emissions and excess packaging we could eliminate if we all bought locally grown goods. Local food is usually healthier and tastier, too, as it is still fresh when it hits the shelves, and often grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and antibiotics.

The art walk festival will celebrate the season with events such as pony rides and a petting zoo for the kids, and hay rides by Radiance Dairy for the whole family.

Birdhouse enthusiasts will get to construct the dwellings two ways—bluebird-style, with local naturalist Terese Cummiskey, or gourd-constructed, with Kathy’s Pumpkin Patch. The Patch, a 30-acre farm in Donnellson, will also be offering scarecrow making and pumpkin painting.

A plethora of delicious food will be available. You can graze on locally made treats such as organic cheese, freshly pressed apple juice, homemade pie, root beer floats made with Radiance Dairy ice cream, apple goodies from Faeth’s Orchard, and samples of Chevon goat meat. Christine’s Catering, Rolling Prairie Acres, plus vendors from the Fairfield Farmers Market will have delicious dishes to savor.

Or you can purchase tickets for the Harvest Walk Progressive Dinner, which will offer five courses at five different locations and begins with local wine and appetizers (including pumpkin delicacies!) at Adela’s. Next, minestrone soup and salad will be served at Small Planet, followed by ratatouille at Revelations. For the fourth course of hickory-smoked chicken and grilled vegetables, head over to Top of the Rock Grille, but don’t forget to save room for dessert! The Chocolate Café will be providing a grand finale to the dinner with a choice of cheesecake or a chocolate cup filled with local cream and fruit.

If you’re not too full to move, go shake your groove thing to the tunes of Fairfield Dixieland Band at 6:00 p.m. and Jefferson County Green Band from 7:30 on.

With all of these fun activities and delicious flavors entertaining your senses, it may be hard to remember that there is, indeed, art to be seen! Make sure to check out the galleries and shops for local artists’ exhibits. Don’t forget to visit the square for a special exhibit of artworks celebrating the family farm, then vote for your favorite piece in the People’s Choice Awards.

On the first Friday of September, please support Buy Fresh Buy Local and the greater cause it represents by attending the “All Things Local” art walk. Besides enjoying fabulous food and amusements, you will be helping to protect Iowa’s social and economic future. Remember to bring an empty stomach!

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